by John Manzi, for NAADA

Monticello, NY — Of course it’s early but it appears that Alan Schwartz and Bob Hechkoff have the top two horses in the eight-leg trotting series sponsored by the North American Amateur Drivers Association.

In the third NAADA leg at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday (March 26), Schwartz won with Bad I Am in a 2:00.4 clocking while Hechkoff followed by winning with Tagmaster in 2:01.2. It marked the second victory for both trotters in the series.

It was the second consecutive triumph for Bad I Am after having copped the NAADA leg at Monticello Raceway a week earlier.

Schwartz says if he takes his horse back as the gate springs, Bad I Am loses interest.

“So after starting from the six hole I let him ramble with hopes of finding a hole but we made the front end in a relatively soft :29.4, which was a bargain,” Schwartz explained. “Once we had the lead I just let him cruise and we never had a serious challenge the rest of the mile and at the wire we were an easy two length winner.”

Former New York Yankee batboy and avid amateur driver Joe Lee had a good two hole journey with Miss Directed but they couldn’t make up any ground in the lane and had to settle for second place in the $6,000 contest. Tony Verruso took home the show dough with Flirting Duezy.

Bad I Am, purchased last fall by Schwartz, is trained by Raheim Strong.

In the other non-wagering division Hechkoff gunned his veteran trotter Tagmaster to the lead and once on top they commanded respect and made every pole a winning one en route to their second victory in the series.

Because of interference in the homestretch, second place finisher Grecale AS was placed fifth which allowed Paul Minore’s Swift Blizzard to take home second money. Third place went to Candid Man, driven by Tony Verruso.

Tagmaster is owned by Hechkoff’s R.B.H. Ventures Inc. and is trained by Kyle Spagnola.

The next leg in the NAADA series is slated for Saturday afternoon (April 4) at Freehold Raceway.